


Not Quite Like the Gavotte

by facepalmConquistador



Category: Good Omens - Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett
Genre: Dancing, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Illustrated, M/M, SO MUCH FLUFF, Song Lyrics, Songfic, i won't be held responsible for any cavities
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-04
Updated: 2014-02-04
Packaged: 2018-01-11 03:27:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,124
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1168110
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/facepalmConquistador/pseuds/facepalmConquistador
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The last time Crowley danced with Aziraphale was also the gavotte, and to the demon’s dismay, also in the 18th century. After the first time, he appeared at almost all the balls and banquets that Aziraphale went to, and when any of his colleagues asked him what he was doing, he told them that he was working on tempting an angel. It was a wild excuse to have, just so he could hold hands with the angel for a few songs, but it worked. And when the gavotte went out of fashion, he was just as disappointed as Aziraphale.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Not Quite Like the Gavotte

**Author's Note:**

> This story is dedicated to my moirail MK, who introduced me to the wonderful world of Good Omens, and who also beta'd the fic for me. ^^  
> Edit: Also a MILLION THANKS TO MK for the awesome picture she drew for this fic! You can see it at the end of the fic, or on her tumblr: http://corsicanchevalier.tumblr.com/post/75560016339/illustration-i-did-for-the-good-omens-fanfic-by-my
> 
> I recommend reading this while listening to this song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xzo8UbeSpfs
> 
> Ever since I finished the book, I’ve been listening to this song on repeat for hours, and this idea just popped into my head. It’s a bit of crack and lots of fluff. I hope you guys enjoy it!

The first time Crowley managed to dance with Aziraphale was in 18th century France. It was, naturally, the gavotte—a little too prim and proper for the demon’s tastes, but an invitation to a ball in Louis XIV’s court had been too good to pass on. A night like that was the perfect opportunity to start rumors of who was cheating on whom among the lords and ladies. After that, he just had to step back and enjoy the fruit of his work; jealousy, wrath, envy, and so many others. 

He hadn’t thought that he would meet Aziraphale there, so when he spotted him among the dancers, he was pleasantly surprised, even though he was sure he should be annoyed, having someone there who could possibly ruin his work. Instead, he made his way onto the dance floor. He just had to join and mess up the dance lines to ruffle the angel’s feathers a little. 

It didn't even take too much to confuse a few people during partner change, and by the time everybody sorted themselves out, Aziraphale found himself in the ladies' line, very confused. The music, and everybody else, kept going though, so he had no choice but to reach a hand towards his new partner, sheepish apology already on the tip of his tongue. He never actually said it though, because the one who took his hand was a very old acquaintance of his, and he only sighed in exasperation.

"Crowley? What are you doing?"

"What do you mean?" The demon gave him a shit-eating grin. "I'm enjoying the night like everybody else."

The confused frown and slight blush on Aziraphale's face were priceless. It seemed that he was a pretty good dancer as long as it came to the practiced steps, but as soon as he was forced to dance the ladies’ part, he was quite lost. The only thing that Crowley enjoyed even more than that was the way the angel's hand felt in his during the briefest of touches, warm and soft, fingertips flushed. This era was a really good look on him; his grown-out blonde locks truly made him look like a baroque painting of an angel. He couldn’t help going back for more, always making sure that Aziraphale ended up dancing with him, even after they changed partners or straightened out the mixed-up lines.

The last time Crowley danced with Aziraphale was also the gavotte, and to the demon’s dismay, also in the 18th century. After the first time, he appeared at almost all the balls and banquets that Aziraphale went to, and when any of his colleagues asked him what he was doing, he told them that he was working on tempting an angel. It was a wild excuse to have, just so he could hold hands with the angel for a few songs, but it worked. And when the gavotte went out of fashion, he was just as disappointed as Aziraphale.

He hadn’t lost all hope, though. There were so many new, more fashionable dances popping up. He’d been quite excited when the waltz became popular at first, hoping that Aziraphale would be forced try the new scandalous dance instead of the gavotte. He couldn’t wait to just show up “accidentally” wherever the angel was, mixing up the pairs until they ended up dancing together. What wouldn’t he have given to see Aziraphale’s face when they were required to dance hip to hip…

To his disappointment, he couldn't find the angel at any of the new dance halls or balls or parties, no matter how hard and long he looked. He even changed tactics and actually asked Aziraphale to go dance with him whenever they met for work (or personal) purposes. The angel, however, would reject him every single time. He was disappointed, even a little frustrated at first, thinking that Aziaphale had had enough of his shenanigans and refused to dance with him again. Then one night, after another rejection, he stalked the angel home, and finally saw the truth. He could hardly suppress his laughter at the sight of Aziraphale, stumbling around in his living room to the waltz, like a tree having a seizure.

After that, Crowley found a new hobby for a while. If he couldn't actually dance with Aziraphale, he would secretly watch his useless attempts at home. He started pestering him about the newest dances, the Charleston, the one-step, the tango, the swing, the jitterbug, the mambo, the cha cha and all those others, just so he could watch him go home and try them all, hopeful at first before giving up completely. The Latin dances were Crowley’s favorites. He would have a good laugh, and he would report it down below as something work-related, even though there was no real evil intent behind his actions—only his own entertainment, and though he wouldn't admit it, his longing to dance with Aziraphale again.

He was quite distraught though, when the 21st century rolled around. There were even more new dances, it seemed like the youth came up with something new every season, but pestering Aziraphale didn't seem to have the desired effect any longer. Maybe the angel gave up completely, or maybe he just wasn't willing to make a fool out of himself even in his own home with things like the dougie and popping and the shuffle. Anyway, there was nothing for Crowley to watch anymore, and with that, he started to realize how much he missed those evenings back in the 18th century.

 

\---------

 

Crowley had a plan.

They were sitting in his living room, sharing some drinks after dinner at the Ritz. They were not quite drunk yet, though Aziraphale was getting close to it. He was rambling on about iPads and other tablets and how they were definitely the work of Crowley's side, when the demon decided to pitch in.

"So there's this new dance called twerking..."

"Absolutely not!" Aziraphale sounded completely sober all of a sudden. "If you're trying to get me drunk for that reason..." 

"Oh, come on. I'm getting desperate here. We haven’t danced together in more than two centuries!"

"You can't twerk together."

"Yes you can, you... How do you even know if you can or can’t?" Then Crowley stopped, and tried really hard not to imagine himself and Aziraphale dancing like that, but it was too late. Okay, no. That really was ridiculous.

"Okay, then will you dance something else with me? The salsa?"

"No, I..."

"The tango? Cumbia? The jitterbug? Irish folk dancing?"

"No, dear, I..."

"You won't even just slow-dance with me?"

"No, I won’t. I can't dance!"

There, he finally made him admit it. That was the biggest step forward. Aziraphale would always come up with different excuses before, so maybe now they could move in the direction he wanted.

"I know that you can't dance.”

"You do… Wait, how?"

"Doesn't matter how. The point is, you can't dance, but for some reason you still used to be pretty good at the gavotte."

"That was different, and what does that have to do with..."

"I think that all you need is a good partner to teach you."

Aziraphale raised his eyebrows and folded his arms over his chest, giving Crowley a look as if he was a misbehaving child.

"Is this another trick to try to make me dance with you? I don’t understand why you are so hell-bent on it…” 

He sighed in exasperation, but he didn’t say no again, so Crowley got up with a knowing smirk, walked over to the sound system and started it. He had already set up the right song in the morning. The soft sound of an oboe started the song, filling the living room with bird-like trilling, soon joined by the big band and singer.

_That certain night, the night we met,  
There was magic abroad in the air…_

Aziraphale looked up, a little confused.

"This song? But this is..."

"Old? Yes. You always dress like you're stuck in the past, so I thought you would be more comfortable with something like this."

"I didn't say that I'll dance with you..."

"Come on, angel." Crowley let out a frustrated sigh. He had been waiting for so long, and if this didn't work either, he was afraid that he would have no choice but give up. It was time to pull out the ultimate weapon. He walked up to Aziraphale and took one of his hands gently.

"Please?"

His ever-present sunglasses covered up any attempt at puppy-dog eyes. There was something in his voice though, something completely un-demon-like, something sincere, because Aziraphale looked horribly troubled, and tried to look away at first, but then he stood up tentatively.

"If it's something really simple..."

Crowley grinned like a pumpkin at Halloween, but then tempered his expression into a smug smile and started to move to the music. It should've been easy, really, if it wasn't for Aziraphale trying to lead when Crowley was already leading.

"Wait, not like that..."

"I told you that this was a bad idea..."

"Stop it, just let me lead..."

"But I don't know how to follow."

"You're making this unnecessarily difficult. Just relax before… Owch!!!”

“Oh, sorry…”

“Don’t oh sorry me, just stop stepping on my feet!”

_I may be right, I may be wrong,_  
 _But I'm perfectly willing to swear_  
 _That when you turned and smiled at me,_  
 _A nightingale sang in Berkeley Square._

After stepping on each other’s feet a few more times, they finally sorted their limbs out, and started to look like they were actually dancing. Or, at least, Crowley looked like he was dancing; only dancing with a mannequin. If he could just get Aziraphale to loosen up a little. It was only with the best intentions that he slid his hand that was resting on the angel’s waist lower and lower until...

“Crowley, dear, what are you doing?” Aziraphale looked at Crowley with a chastising frown and moved the other’s hand from his behind back up onto his waist.

“You know me, angel…had to try at least.” The demon answered, grinning again, but he didn’t dare to risk ruining his rare chance more than once. The butt-touch seemed to break the ice a little though, because Aziraphale huffed with a little smile and finally started to relax.

_That certain night, the night we met,_  
 _There was magic abroad in the air._  
 _There were angels dining at the Ritz,_  
 _And a nightingale sang in Berkeley Square._

“Dear?”

“Hmm?”

“I thought you said just one dance.”

“Yeah?”

“You put the song on repeat didn’t you.”

“Of course. It’s still the same song, so it counts as one dance.”

“That’s…”

“No, it’s not cheating. It’s just tweaking the rules to my advantage.”

Aziraphale huffed and rolled his eyes again, but he didn’t try to move away from Crowley. He was quite enjoying the fact that he was able to dance again, actually.

“Why did you pick this song?” The angel asked, curious, after he started paying attention to the lyrics.

“I thought it kind of sounded like it could be about us. Our song, you know?”

Aziraphale looked up at Crowley with a surprised smile. It was not very often that the other showed this kind of affection, even after everything that happened with that almost-apocalypse. The butt-grabbing, suggestively-whispering kind was common, but this honest, gentle and romantic kind was still rare, and it always left the demon with an uncharacteristic blush.

It was worth the embarrassment, though, because Aziraphale rewarded him with the most beautiful smile, then stepped closer to him and rested his head on his chest. And if Crowley’s heart started beating faster at that, it would be their secret.

_The moon that lingered over London town_  
 _Poor puzzled moon, he wore a frown._  
 _How could he know that we were so in love?_  
 _The whole darn world seemed upside down._

They ended up dancing like that for hours, not paying any attention to the passing of time. Only the first rays of sun told them that it was about time for Aziraphale to go, and he was just as reluctant to pull away as Crowley was to let go. He walked his angel to the door with a sigh, but before he could say goodbye, Aziraphale grabbed his hand again.

“Thank you for the dance.” 

Crowley wanted to say something too, but his words were cut off as a soft, warm hand touched the back of his head, pulling him forward gently, and his breath got caught in his lungs…

_The streets of town were paved with stars_  
 _It was such a romantic affair_  
 _And as we kissed and said goodnight_  
 _A nightingale sang in Berkeley Square._

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer:
> 
> Good Omens, the characters from it, and the song A Nightingale Sang In Berkeley Square don’t belong to me and I’m not making any profit off this story.
> 
> I actually have no idea how they dance the gavotte, so I’m sorry for inaccuracies. I based the description on my not-too-extensive research on youtube, mainly on this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lxeb1KZYrzA
> 
> I also don’t claim that the characters are spot on. I only had the chance to read the book once, and it was a library copy, so I couldn’t even look up stuff like “does Aziraphale actually call Crowley ‘dear’ or is that a fandom thing?” Anyway, this is my first contribution to this fandom, please don’t judge too harshly. Constructive criticism, however, is always welcome.


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